Get weapons of war off the streets: Obama

Washington, Feb 5 (IANS/EFE) "Weapons of war have no place on our streets," US President Barack Obama said Monday at an event with law enforcement officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where gun violence among teens has declined by 40 percent.

"No law or set of laws can keep our children completely safe. But if there's even one thing we can do, if there's just one life we can save, we've got an obligation to try," the president said in a bid to gather support for his proposals to tighten gun regulation.

Speaking at the Minneapolis Police Department Special Operations Center, Obama said there is broad agreement among Americans on "common-sense steps" such as requiring universal background checks for gun buyers and banning assault weapons.

"We should restore the ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines," he said. "And that deserves a vote in Congress - because weapons of war have no place on our streets, or in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers."

Those items were among the proposals from a White House task force appointed by Obama after the Dec 14 massacre of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

"We don't have to agree on everything to agree it's time to do something," the president said, hailing Minneapolis as a city that "came together" to adopt measures which have markedly diminished youth violence.

--IANS/EFE

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